The owners of this home on Montview Boulevard asked the city to rezone part of the property to allow for a new lot to be split off. They intend to build a second house on the north, facing the cross street, Glencoe Street.

A Denver couple on Monday withdrew a rezoning request that has roiled their Park Hill community because of their plan to split the large corner lot they own and build a second house.

Some neighbors worried that allowing a split of the lot for the stately home on Montview Boulevard at Glencoe Street could encourage others to follow suit. City planners have said few homes have similar dynamics that would allow for splits elsewhere, but the perceived threat to Park Hill’s historic character, along with more pragmatic considerations from the immediate neighbors on Glencoe, sparked nearly two years of controversy, unsuccessful mediation sessions and the gathering of petition signatures.

But the dispute isn’t over — not yet.

Chris Wong and Susan Momoko Morton bought the house at 5315 E. Montview Blvd. for nearly $1.1 million in May 2015, and they invested heavily in renovations to the deteriorated structure. Adding a second house on the nearly 19,000-square-foot lot, facing Glencoe, would help recoup their investment.

Their case for the rezoning was hurt last week when the Department of Community Planning and Development issued a denial recommendation. They had requested the rezoning of the northern part of the lot — 50 feet along Glencoe — to a different single-unit designation that required a smaller minimum lot area, allowing for the splitting to occur.

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The matter had been set to have a hearing before the Planning Board on Wednesday. A successful vote would have moved the request to the City Council for final approval.

But without CPD’s endorsement, it’s rare for rezoning applications of any scope to meet with success in the Planning Board and the council.

On Monday, Wong told The Denver Post through the couple’s representative, Marcus Pachner, that they planned to retool their application and resubmit it — with an aim on winning the city planners’ sign-off on the next try.

“Out of respect to the process and in the interest of all concerned parties, we feel it is best to withdraw our application at this time,” Wong said. “We will be moving forward with a new application that documents the changed and changing circumstances in our neighborhood.”

Wong later said other considerations in seeking the lot division included desiring a smaller yard to water and mow; Wong sees a less sprawling lot as more environmentally sustainable.

Changes in a new application could buttress what city planners found to be the weakest part of the recent submittal.

In last week’s CPD staff report, city planners found that the requested zoning change for part of the lot met four of five required criteria — consistency with adopted plans, uniformity with the new zone district’s regulations and restrictions, supporting the area’s public health and safety, and consistency with the neighborhood context.

But the planning department rejected all of the couple’s offered conditions for a “justifying circumstance” — basically, a reason to pull the trigger on a zoning change and encourage redevelopment.

Those included the couple’s renovation of the property and the fact that the pre-2010 zoning code would have allowed the lot split to be approved administratively.

Other aspects of the rezoning case were contentious outside city hall. The homeowners’ application pointed out that the proposed division of their deeper-than-average lot would mirror lot lines on the other half of the block, across the alley, as well as on some nearby blocks.

But Blair Taylor and Luke Hardy, who have lived for seven years in the house that’s just north of Wong’s on Glencoe, worried about losing their home’s sun exposure and mature trees since the new house would be built so close to theirs. Taylor said they and others also have worried about the effect of the zoning change on Park Hill and Montview, which is a parkway in the area.

“We are happy the city recognized there was no justifying circumstance for rezoning this property and feel the application is inappropriate, considering the significant public opposition,” Taylor wrote in an email. “The premise for the application was for the sole personal benefit of the developers and clearly had no relevance to the character and integrity of this beautiful and unique boulevard. … In case they intend to reapply, we will continue to be steadfast and remain diligent in our quest to uphold the intent” of the zoning code.

Jon Murray is an enterprise reporter on The Denver Post's government and politics team, with a focus on transportation. He previously covered Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and city government. A Colorado native, he joined The Denver Post in 2014 after reporting on city government and the legal system for The Indianapolis Star.